2007 Honda Pilot LX 2WD Road Test

With all the seats folded down, cargo space is mighty impressive.

The cloth seats are pretty comfortable and offer good lateral support in front. The 2nd-row bench is a little flat, of course, but your passengers will be quite happy back there nonetheless. The flat floor greatly contributes to the comfort of the middle occupant. I'm impressed with the usefulness of the 3rd-row seat, which adults can actually use; a third row in SUVs is typically reserved for kids or the family pet.

Cargo space is also impressive. There's plenty of room with all the seats in their upright position, and when you fold them all down, you could probably squeeze a Fit in there.

Yawn-inducing looks

The Pilot is far from being ugly, but it's not particularly exciting to look at, either.

The downside of getting that tremendous amount of interior space is that the Pilot looks like a giant breadbox. It's not ugly, though, but nothing to impress your neighbors with. Still, the truck's revised nose that was performed in 2006 gives it some much-needed swagger.

What's great about the front-wheel drive Pilot is that nobody will notice that it's a great pretender. The LX 2WD lacks the '4WD' badge on its rump, but that's it; visually, you won't see a difference, so your ego will be intact as long as you don't tell anyone.

Competition
Unless I'm mistaken, the Pilot is the only mid-size SUV that offers 8-passenger seating. The LX 2WD model is priced at $36,400, three grand less than the LX 4WD. In comparison, a Toyota Highlander V6 with 7-passenger seating and all-wheel drive costs $39,520, a new Mazda CX-9 GS in front-wheel drive configuration costs $39,595, and a Nissan Pathfinder S costs $37,798.

The Mitsubishi Endeavor SE with front-wheel drive costs less, at $35,998, but can only accept 5 passengers. The front-drive Ford Freestyle SEL with 7-passenger seating, although marketed as a crossover, also costs less at $33,599.

Conclusion
The Honda Pilot LX 2WD, oddly enough, makes sense. It might not be the best choice for those who must regularly drive through snowstorms or have to venture off-road to reach the summer cottage, but for everyday commuting, it's fine. In addition, you'll save a lot of bucks at purchase time and when you stop for gas.

It may not be a superstar, but pretending to be one does have its advantages.

The 2WD Pilot is $3,000 cheaper than the 4WD version.

What I like:
Powerful V6, and with cylinder
     deactivation
School bus passenger capacity and space
Comfortable ride

What I don't like:
Torque steer
Boring looks
CD player can't read MP3 files


For more details concerning this vehicle, please refer to the technical specifications and to the standard features list.

If you wish to test-drive or receive a price quotation for this vehicle, you only have to perform a retailer / dealer search in your region.